Viṣṇusahasranāma: 567-585
सुधन्व- खण्डपरशुर्- दारुणो द्रविणप्रद- ः ।
दिवि:स्पृ- ् सर्वदृक् व्यासो वाचस्पतिरय- ोनिजः ।। 61 ।।
567. Sudhanvā
The One with a great bow.
Lord Viṣṇu has the excellent bow named Śārṅga as His weapon. In His Rāma avatāra, He had the bow named Kodaṇḍa. It is said, Rāma had to strike only once.
568. Khaṇḍaparaśuḥ
The One with the punishing axe.
The battle-axe that destroys enemies. Here the reference is to the Lord's incarnation as Paraśurāma, son of Jamadagni with a Paraśu (battle-axe) as His weapon for destroying (khaṇḍana) the enemies. Hence He is Khaṇḍaparaśuḥ.
ii) Or, He is Akhaṇḍaparaśuḥ, since His Paraśu never meat a defeat. This name also one of the names of Lord Śiva in Śiva-aṣtottaraśata-nāmāv- ali.
569. Dāruṇaḥ
One who is fierce.
This name follows immediately after Khaṇḍaparaśuḥ. The Lord is fierce, merciless (Dāruṇaḥ) towards those who are on the evil (adharma) path. When the adharmi faces the consequence of adharma, it appears as though Bhagavan is fierce (Dāruṇaḥ), merciless.
This name should not frighten us. We should feel relieved that the Lord is there to vanquish adharmis and that nobody can get away with it.
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570. Draviṇapradaḥ
One who bestows wealth.
He bestows (pradaḥ) the desired wealth (draviṇa) on His devotees as the giver of positive results of action.
571. Divaspṛk
One who touches the heaven.
What is the size of the Lord, who is presented as all-pervasive (sarvavyāpī) in the Śruti. Well, His head touches the heaven, and His feet touch Pātāla. Its a metaphorical description.
572. Sarvadṛgvyāsaḥ
The all-knowing Vyāsa.
Sarvadṛk and Vyāsaḥ make one single name.
Sarvadṛk means One, whose comprehension includes all knowledge. As Vyāsa, he expounded all disciplines of knowledge, hence Bhagavān is called Sarvadṛgvyāsaḥ
ii) Or, One, who is dṛk (the power of comprehension) in all (sarva). That also means Vyāsa who compiled the four Vedas, and is attributed to have composed the Purāṇas. This is not possible without being an amśāvatāra of the Lord. Hence Bhagavān is called Sarvadṛgvyāsaḥ.
57- 3. Vācaspatirayonijaḥ
The Lord of all vidyās, and unborn.
Here also Vācaspatiḥ and Ayonijaḥ make one name. Vāk means vidyā, patiḥ means the Lord. He is Vācaspatiḥ because He is the Master (patiḥ) of all learning (vāk). It refers to Bṛhaspati also, who is the preceptor of all the devatās.
Everyone is a yonijaḥ, especially the mammals. He is Ayonijaḥ because He is unborn, let alone of a yoni.
त्रिस- ामा सामगः साम निर्वाणं भेषजं भिषक् ।
संन्यासकृ- च्छमः शान्तो निष्ठा शांतिः परायणम् ।। 62 ।।
574. Trisāmā
The One praised by the threefold Sāmans.
One who is praised by the chanters of Sāmagāna through the three Sāmas known as Devarātam.
575. Sāmagaḥ
One who singss the Sāmagānah.
576. Sāmaḥ
He is the Sāmaveda.
Lord Kṛṣṇa declares in the Bhagavadgītā that - "I am the Sāmaveda amongst the Vedas" - vedānāṃ sāmavedo’smi - Bh.Gī.X.22
These three names 574, 575, 576 go together. Sāma is a Ṛkmantra set to music and is sung. Other Vedic mantras have svaras, but they are only three. Sama is pentatonic. Anything to be set to music must have at least five svaras (pentatonic). Sāmaveda is the origin of Classical music.
577. Nirvāṇam
The One, in the form of mokṣa.
That in which all miseries cease, and which is the nature of Ānanda.
578. Bheṣajam
He is the medicine.
The Lord is the medicine for the disease that is samsāra.
579. Bhiṣak
He is the physician.
The Lord is called Bhiṣak (physician) since through the Bhagavadgītā He has administered the self-knowledge which is the medicine that cures the disease of samsāra. Śruti says - 'bhiṣaktamam tvā bhiṣajam śṛṇomi' - I hear that Thou art the greatest amongst physicians.
These three names 577 Nirvāṇam, 578 Bheṣajam, and 579 Bhiṣak also is a group.
580. Sanyāsakṛt
One who has instituted the fourth āśrama of sannyāsa, the fourth stage of life, which is taking to a life of renunciation. Why does a person take to sannyāsa? For attaining mokṣa, to be free from the sense of limitations, to recogise his limitlessness. A person gives up everything and takes to sannyāsa only for Īśvara, who is limitlessness. One gives up desires for all the three worlds - bhuḥ (this world), bhuvaḥ (the intermediary world), svaḥ (heaven), desire for wealth, name and fame and desires only Bhagavān, and that is sannyāsa. And Bhagavān is Sanyāsakṛt. Although He instituted all the four āśramas, He is called so, since only in sannyāsa āśrama, it is most conducive to know Him.
581. Śamaḥ
The One who has ordained the control of the mind.
He ordained Śamaḥ as the most important discipline for the sannyāsins (ascetics). Smṛti says -
yatinām praśamo dharmo niyamo vanavāsinaam |
dānam-eva gṛhasthānām śuśruṣā brahmacāriṇām ||
meaning - The most important quality (dharma) required of a sannyāsi is pacification of the mind (śama); of the forest-dwellers austerities such as - external restrain, a life of self-control. discipline, and meditation; of the house-holders it is charity (dānam), and of the brahmacāris it is service to the guru, and listening to the scriptures (śuśruṣā[1]).
[1] the vyutpatti meaning of the word is śrotum icchā = śuśruṣā (just like moktum icchā = mumukṣā). But the popular (ruḍhi) meaning has become service (sevā).
582. Śāntaḥ
The One who is tranquil.
The peaceful being without interest in pleasures of the world. Sruti says - 'niṣkalam niṣkriyam śāntam' - Parabrahma is timeless, actionless and calm.
583. Niṣṭhā
The residing place.
One in whom all beings remain in abeyance during pralaya (cosmic dissolution).
584. Śāntiḥ
The One who is in the form of peace.
585. Parāyaṇam
The ultimate end.
The state which is the highest and from which there is no return to lower states.
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Swāminī Ātmaprajñānanda Saraswatī is a Vedāntācāryā and Vyākaranācāryā. She teaches Vedānta and Pānini in Ārsha Vidyā Vikāś Kendra at Bhubaneswar. She is the author of three published books - Nomenclature of the Vedas, Rsikās of the Rgveda, and Om: The Sound Symbol.
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